Court order establishment refers to court actions to obtain an order for
child support, medical support or possibly retroactive support. The
court uses the Alabama Child Support Guidelines based upon Alabama State
Law (Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration) to make
fair and consistent support orders.
Copies of the guidelines are available to the public free of charge at
court clerk's offices throughout the state, or online at the
Administrative Office of Courts. The
guidelines are based on the monthly gross income of both parents. There
are other things taken into consideration such as day care expenses,
health insurance costs and additional children for whom support is court
ordered or provided. Situations that may require the establishment of a
support order could be one of the following:

Separation Cases

This is when the parents of a child(ren) are married but separated, and
the non-custodial parent is not providing support for the child(ren) and
has no court order to do so.

Paternity Cases

When the court establishes paternity, it must also issue an order
addressing support, medical support and an order for Income Withholding.
In such cases, the court may also decide other issues such as child
custody, visitation, court costs and genetic testing costs. The
Department of Human Resources and the State's attorney, however, can
only address matters of child support.

Acknowledgment of Paternity Cases

This is when the mother and the alleged father complete an
Acknowledgment of Paternity at the hospital or at the Department of
Human Resources Office.

Divorce Cases

This is when the parent of a child or children are divorced and there is
no provision for child support or medical support in the divorce order.
If there are custody, visitation or other non child support related
issues, you may need to seek legal counsel to represent your interest in
these issues.

Foster Care Cases

These are cases where children are in the custody of or are receiving
out-of-home care from a State agency.

DHR awarded $750,000 grant to improve child care servicesMONTGOMERY-The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) has been awarded a grant by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to help expand high-quality early learning opportunities for young infants and toddlers by providing core operating support for the Early Head Start Child-Care Partnership (EHS-CCP).